2014 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

An epic race this time in the artificially lid Bahrain circuit.
IMO the best race in years, where battles between team mates has kept everyone on the edge of their seats.
And after the stupid action of Maldonado, with 10 laps to go, the battle for 1st was the best in years.

Another 1-2 for Mercedes, again with Lewis Hamilton in forst place.
3dr place for the Mexican Perez.

If you've missed this race, find a channel to download it, because it is certainly worth watching.

Daniel Ricciardo on fighting with Sebastian Vettel; Christian Horner on closing down Mercedes; Daniil Kvyat on Toro Rosso unexpectedly struggling; Jenson Button on fading in the latter stages of his 250th Grand Prix. The drivers and senior team personnel report back on a thrilling race under the Bahrain floodlights...

Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo, 4th
“It was an awesome race; it was exciting. I think the first stint was a bit follow-the-leader, but from the second stint onwards, the race really started to turn up the heat and there were more battles going on in front and behind - it was good to be a part of them. We got close to the podium today, I think within half a second, so I was doing all I could. The car came to me as the race went on and I was happy with how I moved up through the pack, so a good day. It was good fun to race Sebastian, it was hard but fair and we left each other room. That’s what we want from each other and we discussed it beforehand, we’re racers and that’s what we enjoy doing.”

Sebastian Vettel, 6th
“I think it was a busy race today, especially at the end after the safety car, but it’s a shame we couldn’t get further up. Daniel proved that there was a little bit more to get from the car today, I couldn’t really get to that bit, so I’m not so happy with my day. For some reason we seemed to be really slow on the straights, and not just against the Mercedes. Mercedes has a stronger package, so there’s work ahead of us. It was straight forward with Daniel today, we worked well together as a team and we raced well, but surely I would like to have finished higher up.”

Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal
“A very interesting race today and great entertainment; I think we got everything out of it that we could. The drivers worked together as a team earlier in the race when they were on different tyre strategies and then raced each other hard at the end of the race. Daniel put in a great drive and, with another lap, possibly could have made it to the podium. It was good to see them both racing each other cleanly and fairly. Sebastian reported a problem in a straight line, which we need to investigate because he didn’t manage to overtake anyone at the end of the straight all afternoon, so there’s plenty of work to do. We got a good haul of points today and we now have a couple of days testing to try and further close that gap to Mercedes.”

Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat, 11th
“Unfortunately today didn’t go as I would have liked. I was not happy with our pace and it was frustrating to see the other cars just passing me by. The start was a little bit messy and I lost a position. From then on I tried to push as much as possible, but it wasn’t enough to get into the points today. We will now have to analyze carefully what went wrong today and hopefully we will come back stronger at the next race in China.”

Jean-Eric Vergne, DNF
“It was a bit of a mess at the start in Turn 8 with a lot of cars around me, but while the others were having a poor exit I had a clean one on the outside. When I then found myself next to a Lotus, I got squeezed more and more and when he realised I was about to overtake him anyway, he just closed the door. That is why our wheels touched and my car took off, out of control. Both rear wing and floor got heavily damaged with a huge loss of aero performance and it was just not possible to continue my race. Hopefully bad luck will leave us alone for the next races.”

Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal
“Considering our speed during all the weekend's practice sessions, I was expecting a much better result for the race today. Unfortunately Jean-Eric was hit right at the beginning: when we read all the data and realised how much downforce he had actually lost because of the damaged floor and wing, we decided to call him in. As for Daniil, he did a good race but we didn't have enough speed today and we will have to investigate the reason for this in order to have a better weekend in China.”

McLaren
Jenson Button, 17th
“In terms of pace, we took a step forward this weekend. Moreover, our degradation was positive and I think we did a very good job understanding our tyres. Only one team were demonstrably quicker than us today - Mercedes - but sadly they were a lot quicker than us. Having said that, our long-run pace was very good, especially over the last few laps, so I reckon we could have raced very hard to the finish on the primes. But unfortunately I didn’t get that opportunity.

“It’s tough for all the team, because they all worked really well and really hard. We were set for fifth place at worst and a podium finish at best, and that would have been a very positive outcome for all of us. In summary, then, there was lots of good racing out there - I can’t even remember how many cars I overtook but it was quite a lot - and I think it was the same for almost everyone out there. I really enjoyed it, in fact.

“Formula One may have new power units and technical regulations this year, but it’s clearly every bit as good as it ever was in terms of on-track spectacle.”

Kevin Magnussen, DNF
“That wasn’t a great race for me. The start wasn’t ideal - I lost three positions - and after that we just didn’t have enough pace to make progress towards the front. We’d been expecting that the colder conditions might help us, but, as things panned out, we were actually a little less strong here than we were in Malaysia, for some reason.

“We’ll analyse that carefully, and I’m sure we’ll learn from it. We’re learning all the time, in fact. It’s disappointing that we didn’t score points today - two DNFs is never pleasant for any team - but we’ll approach the Chinese Grand Prix with the aim of doing quite a bit better than we did here in Bahrain.”

Eric Boullier, McLaren racing director
“Well, it goes without saying that we’re leaving Bahrain bitterly disappointed. We didn’t have the fastest car this weekend, we know that, but, had our cars not both been afflicted with clutch problems towards the end of the race, triggering their retirements, at least we’d have been leaving with some more championship points on the scoreboard.

“In fact, had Jenson’s car run reliably to the flag, there’s every chance that he’d have been fighting for fifth, fourth or potentially even third place. Granted, minor placings aren’t what McLaren is all about - on the contrary we exist to win - but a third-, fourth- or fifth-place finish would have been extremely welcome in terms of our achieving what we’d set out to accomplish in these early-in-the-season fly-away races: namely, steadily pick up championship points while we develop our car’s performance envelope for the beginning of the European season in Barcelona.

“Anyway, from here we’ll go back to Woking, where we’ll work as hard as we possibly can to improve our cars for Shanghai, where we’ll be hoping to put up a significantly better showing than we did here in Sakhir this evening.”

Williams
Felipe Massa, 7th
“The start was fantastic, I did everything right and I had good grip and it all went well. We were in a good position and fighting but sadly the tyre degradation was worse than we expected. The safety car didn't help the strategy as I think we should have been up with the Force Indias rather than behind the Red Bulls so that is a shame. Other than that it was a good race, with some good battles and to finish with both cars in the points is really positive.”

Valtteri Bottas, 8th
“After a poor start our race strategy was compromised. I had too much wheelspin and that lost me a few positions which is frustrating. We had issues with the tyres that were worse than expected but on a positive note we got some good points from both cars. We always want more though, so we will continue to work hard and look forward to the next race.”

Rob Smedley, Williams head of vehicle performance
“Overall I am extremely happy. We finished the weekend with both cars in the points, and good points too. To start in third and finish in eighth for Valtteri is a bit frustrating, but that's racing and we have to accept that. There are many positives still to take, one thing we do need is a little bit more race pace. The team worked very well together from strategy to pitstops, the change over the last twelve months has been very encouraging. There is still a lot of work to do but I'm very impressed with the quality of people here.”

Caterham
Kamui Kobayashi, 15th
“I had an okay start but had an issue on lap one with a setting that gives us full boost and energy release - we sorted that out quickly and I passed Marcus [Ericsson] for 18th, then went after [Jules] Bianchi who I caught and passed on lap 10.

“My race pace was good in the first stint and the tyre deg was what we’d expected so we stuck to the strategy and boxed for the first time on lap 15 for another set of options. I came out behind Marcus and [Max] Chilton but got in front of them both and went after [Pastor] Maldonado in 16th but with the performance level of the car now I wasn’t able to catch him.

“We were on a two stop strategy so we came in for the mediums on lap 35. I was fighting with Gutierrez but let him go as he was on a different strategy and there wasn’t any point ruining that set of tyres just to race him, but then the safety car came out and I was able to make up the lap and was up with Maldonado and [Romain] Grosjean just as the safety car came in.

“After the restart I had to save fuel so couldn’t keep pace with the pack and that was pretty much the end of my race. Finishing 15th isn’t great but we really couldn’t do any more today. We’ll have to regroup for China and with a few updates we have for that race we’ll aim to make progress there.”

Marcus Ericsson, DNF
“My start was good and I was up to 17th by the end of lap three, fighting with Grosjean and then went after Bianchi. The car balance really didn’t feel great and Kamui had better pace than me in the first few laps plus my tyre deg wasn’t great so we made our first stop on lap 11 at the same time as Chilton - the guys did a good job and I came back out still ahead of him at the start of the second stint.

“The car still didn’t feel great on the second set of tyres and I couldn’t hold back the Marussia or Kamui who was on a different strategy to me. I kept pushing up to the second stop on lap 26 when we went onto the third set of options and came out ahead of the Marussia again but then after a few more laps I lost power and was told to stop the car because we had an oil leak.

“It’s obviously disappointing not to be able to finish the race, especially as the car was feeling much better as the fuel level dropped. Still, for me it’s another part of the learning process and with every lap I’m racing my education continues. Now we have a couple more days of testing in Bahrain and then it’s off to China for another new track for me. We’ll have some new parts there so we’ll work on optimising them with setup and come back fighting in Shanghai.”

Force India
Sergio Perez, 3rd
“This podium is an amazing achievement and one of the most special results in my whole career. This is a massive confidence boost, especially after the very hard season I had last year, and it was the hardest-fought podium I ever had. It was an amazing feeling to cross the line because the last few laps were very difficult. I had to keep up the pace and I knew the Red Bulls were coming. In the end we managed to stay ahead and score this very special result in only my third race with the team. I also had a great fight with my teammate during the whole race. When he got ahead of me after the first stop, I tried to keep my head down to get back ahead. I managed to do that when we were fighting with the Williams and that was the crucial moment."

Nico Hulkenberg, 5th
“It’s a great day for the team and I’m very happy for the guys. The battle with Checo was very clean and fair, and when you’re fighting for the podium you give everything but always stay within the lines. It was good fun. The end of the race was hard because I had to battle from the moment the safety car came in until the end of the race. I was behind Checo and I felt I had a little more pace, but I was in dirty air and that caused me to struggle towards the end. I held back Ricciardo for as long as I could and I managed to stay ahead of Vettel. It’s a great achievement for the team and we’ve shown once again that we are competitive so hopefully we can keep up the momentum in China.”

Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal
“Today is one of the greatest days in the history of our team. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s very satisfying to see Sahara Force India back on the podium after so many near misses in recent years. We have a great driver line-up and today we saw both Checo and Nico at their best as they battled for a place on the podium. Without the safety car our two-stop strategies would have been much more comfortable because we faced a strong assault from the Red Bulls in the closing stages. Nico did a fantastic job to keep them back for so long and hold on to fifth place. It gave Checo the breathing space he needed to secure third place. So I’m extremely proud of everyone in the team and congratulate all of them on this achievement. 2014 is a new chance and we have shown we're moving forward in Australia, Malaysia and here. I couldn't be happier."

Sauber
Esteban Gutierrez, DNF
“First of all, the most important is that I am okay. They did all the checks at the hospital and everything is fine. Concerning the accident, I was completely surprised that Pastor (Maldonado), who came out of the pits, ran into me. I was clearly in front of him. I turned into the corner and I was suddenly hit and I rolled over. There was nothing much I could do.”

Adrian Sutil, DNF
“My race was over quite early. Jules (Bianchi) braked too late and went into my car in the hairpin. I was not able to do anything to prevent it, and my car was damaged. He was driving aggressively for the whole race and pushed me off at the start. With his move he destroyed mine as well as his own race. It was unnecessary. In general, the weekend was difficult for us. However, I wanted to finish the race to cover more kilometres and also to gain experience with the car. The next race in China will come soon, so it can only be better.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Sauber team principal
“Let’s start with the positives: We are pleased that Esteban is fine after his spectacular accident. Generally, it was a weekend to forget. We knew before that on this track our limitations with the powertrain would be significant. This was confirmed during the race. Nevertheless, losing both cars through accidents is very disappointing. In both cases, it was not the fault of our drivers. We will now forget this weekend and focus on the upcoming race in China, where we expect some improvements.”

Ferrari
Fernando Alonso, 9th
“Today’s race was complicated for us, even if we knew what to expect because, with its long straights, this track shows up our weak points. The team did a super job and sorted the problem I had yesterday in the final part of qualifying and the start and strategy were perfect. The Safety Car helped us make up a bit of ground on the cars ahead of us and also allowed us to save fuel, but it was not enough to change the result, with eight cars ahead of us doing a better job. Although we did all we could, we can’t be happy with our level of performance and now our sole focus must be on working day and night. The season is in its early stages and I think we can stage a recovery. We have the resources and the potential to do it and it’s all down to us. Next week will be very important as we get back on track on Tuesday and Wednesday to test in preparation for the upcoming races. We have got a very aggressive programme, which we need as our rivals will not just be sitting back and watching.”

Kimi Raikkonen, 10th
“I am very disappointed with today’s result, because after how qualifying went, I expected to do better. I didn’t get a good start and immediately lost some places. On the first lap, I was hit by Magnussen, luckily without it doing any damage, but trying to move up the order at this point was very difficult, because the lack of aero downforce and speed on the straight meant overtaking was complicated. We knew this track was less suited to the characteristics of our car than the first two and that the Mercedes would be very quick. Overall, the handling of our car has generally improved compared to the first races and this makes me confident for the upcoming ones. We can expect a lot of work to do and we will make the most of the test days to try and improve already in time for the next race in China.”

Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal
“This race provided an epilogue to a weekend which turned out to be as difficult as we had thought it would be, even before arriving in Bahrain. This circuit is particularly tough for our car and Sakhir’s technical characteristics showed up the gaps in our performance. Now, we must forget this race and look ahead, because I don’t like seeing our drivers fighting hard everywhere and then being unable to attack or defend on the straights. We’ve got an important test ahead of us now, when I expect to see an initial step up in terms of quality. The team must not get downhearted, even if things have not turned out the way they should so far. They must continue to work in order to step up a gear as quickly as possible.”

Pat Fry, Ferrari chassis director
“Today, we could not have asked more of our car and drivers, because here, our most limiting factor was a lack of top speed. That meant we had to run a defensive race and even if in the middle sector, the one with the most corners, the F14 T was competitive, it was not enough to allow Fernando and Kimi to attack our rivals. In Maranello, we are working on solutions to ensure better power delivery and better driveability. We are also trying to improve the efficiency of the car on the aerodynamic front. The data we acquired in today’s race will provide a baseline for the major checking programme we have planned for the test, right here at Sakhir on Tuesday and Wednesday.”

Marussia
Max Chilton, 13th
“Yesterday’s qualifying didn’t go so well but I knew today’s race was going to be a lot closer. I didn’t get a very good start but through the course of the race I managed the tyres well, while still having a good race with the Caterhams. The safety car helped us out as I don’t think we had to fuel save as much as the others, once we had unlapped ourselves. All in all it’s great to be leaving Bahrain with 13th place and having finished every single race of my F1 career so far - 22 out of 22 now! Most important of all, it’s a nice feeling to have helped us back into 10th position in the constructors’ championship standings. Bring on China!”

Jules Bianchi, 16th
“I’m really disappointed after another tough race for me; the third one in a row. I got a good start and made up three places by the end of the first lap and I was having a really good first stint, enjoying a good race with Sutil. I had the chance to get ahead of him and I was slightly ahead going into Turn 1, but he turned in on me and crashed into me, which punctured my left rear. I pitted but after that the car never felt the same and we can see now that the floor was damaged, which resulted in a loss of downforce and made the car difficult to drive for the rest of the race.”

John Booth, Marussia team principal
“After a disappointing outing in Malaysia last weekend, where unfortunately we allowed 10th place in the constructors’ championship to slip through our grasp, it’s fantastic to regain the position again so quickly. Our performance today was no accident; it was the product of a lot of hard work by the factory in a very short space of time, coupled with the efforts of the trackside crew. Max had a tough start to the race and was stuck behind Ericsson for several laps but we re-optimised his ERS, which enabled him to overtake the Caterham. As a result of Kobayashi emerging just in front of Max after his second pit stop, at this point we opted to switch Max to a two-stop strategy to run to the end. The late safety car enabled us to put Max onto a fresh set of option tyres and he was able to pass Kobayashi at the restart. From there he comfortably pulled away and was able to stay in front of Maldonado, whilst also managing his fuel to the end of the race. Jules enjoyed a fantastic start to the race and after his first pit stop he was in a good battle with the Sauber of Sutil in which he was clearly quicker and trying to overtake. What happened next was unfortunate and that was effectively the end of Jules’ ability to race, however the fact that he was able to make it to the chequered flag gives him his first classified finish and provides the team with more valuable data. We’ve made a lot of progress this weekend and the test will give us the chance to improve the car further.”

Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton, 1st
“What an incredible day. That was a really tough race tonight and I am absolutely delighted to have come home with the win. It's a long time since I had a race like that! My weekend started off well but I didn't really have great pace for qualifying and the race. I knew that I needed a good start and to go into the first corner in the lead was crucial to my race this evening. From there, it was such a battle. Nico drove fantastically well and, in all honesty, he had the pace on me today but I managed to hold on. I knew when the safety car came out that Nico would be on the option tyres and that he would be quick. To try and stay ahead of him was so hard and when I came across the line I was just so relieved. When you're racing your team mate, the pressure is really intense and we both knew that we had to bring the cars home for the team and for the championship. All credit to the team for allowing us to race and I hope the fans loved the show that we were able to put on tonight. A big thank you to the team, especially to my engineers for all the information they were giving me during the race, and to everyone here and back at the factories for all their hard work. Another one-two is just fantastic for us. I'm also very proud to have joined Fangio with 24 Grand Prix wins today, he's one of the great racers of all time so that's a real honour.”

Nico Rosberg, 2nd
“It was a great battle out there this evening with Lewis and this kind of race is exactly why I am in Formula One; I love to race like today. Of course, it's very disappointing to have finished second in the end but I gave it everything and it just didn't quite come off for me. Lewis did a great job defending his position and, so often when I did manage to get past, I then couldn't see him in the blind spot in my mirrors. Our strategy was good and to change it after the first stint was a decision that I made with the team. It was a slightly slower strategy but it gave me the best chance of catching Lewis at the end on the option tyres. The difference between the prime and the option was not as big as we expected however and that's why I didn't quite manage to get by. The positive must be that this was a great day for Formula One. The race was a fantastic show and hopefully it proves that the critics of our new technology are wrong. I can't wait for China now and I want to end up on the top step there.”

Toto Wolff, Mercedes team executive director
“It has been a fantastic weekend for the team from start to finish. To have led every session with both cars is a real achievement and we can be very proud of the combined effort of our staff at Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart. The race was quite simply brilliant to watch, with battles throughout the field. Lewis and Nico drove with a great deal of maturity and respect for both each other and the team but still put on a great show. What we saw today was two drivers at the peak of their abilities fighting fair and square for victory. This is what we go racing for and it was a strong advert for the sport: in particular under these new regulations. With the result last week in Malaysia mirrored here tonight, we now find ourselves in a strong position in both Championships. We are under no illusions, however, that this is a given. We must take these moments and use them as inspiration in the on-going push to achieve our goals.”

Paddy Lowe, Mercedes team executive director (technical)
“Another exceptional and well-deserved result for the team today after what has been a flawless weekend from everyone involved. From the very first laps in practice the car looked competitive and we didn't miss a beat throughout. From the pit wall, the race was fascinating to watch. While there were undoubtedly some tense moments, we knew that both drivers would be sensible enough to bring the cars home: although it was worth throwing in a little reminder just to be sure! All credit to the teams at Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart for what they have achieved already this season. A particular note must go to the team at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, with their power units taking all three podium places and six of the top ten positions. It's fantastic to show the world that not only can amazing technology be produced within this exciting new 'Efficiency Formula' but that racing is alive and well within our sport. We now have a two-day test here in Bahrain where we will be looking to build on our current performance and maintain this momentum into the next races. For now, though, we can enjoy what has been a highly successful few weeks for the team.”

Lotus
Romain Grosjean, 12th
“It's good that we didn't have any problems during the weekend and we were able to finish the race with both cars. It's not easy racing - what with the fuel management and energy recovery system - so there’s certainly more mental work going on in the cockpit. At certain points of the race we were quite quick, but then at other points we were really struggling with the rear grip. Fortunately, we now have two days of testing at Bahrain so we’ll be able to try a lot of different set-ups to try to get the car more as we want it."

Pastor Maldonado, 14th
“As we expected the pace was much better in the race than it was in qualifying. We were using quite an interesting strategy and were running on two stops which was working well until the incident. We will need to have a look again at what happened as Esteban seemed to be off his line coming into Turn 1 - maybe he missed his braking point, I don't know - and by then I was in the corner with nowhere to go. For sure it's difficult to understand and I was coming out from the pits and with cold tyres. I think he was very unlucky and it’s good he jumped straight out of the car. As a team it’s a plus that we finished with two cars which is very important and now we need to learn from this race and push hard for Shanghai."

Federico Gastaldi, Lotus deputy team principal
"We’re happy to get both cars to the chequered flag as we’re still very much learning this car and the data collected today will be invaluable for the coming week’s test. Obviously, we’re disappointed that we weren’t fighting for points however we have made another step closer to the cars ahead of us. We’ll keep chipping away and making performance gains so we can get where we want to be."

Pirelli
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director
“We’ve seen some fantastic wheel-to-wheel racing in Bahrain, in which tyre strategy and pace management played a definite part. With track temperatures falling, some teams altered their strategy from three to two stops. When you have a safety car close to the end and drivers on a wide variety of different tyres, it always guarantees an exciting finish. Now we start preparing for the first in-season test of the year. Having the opportunity to test for the future with the current generation of cars is something we certainly welcome, so we look forward to seeing what we can get out of it.”

F1 2014 - After three races, Mercedes AMG looks dominant after another 1-2 victory - Teams scrambling to catch up to Mercedes

Wow, Mercedes is flat out flying out of the gate in 2014. Another Grand Prix and another 1-2 finish this time in Bahrain. McLaren states they can catch Mercedes but clearly everyone is scrambling to come up with a solution. Here is what McLaren racing director Eric Boullier had to say, "It’s true that the gap is huge now, but a one-second gap is catchable. I know a lot of areas we can work on and improve, so I think they can definitely be caught. We are aggressively developing now to make sure we can catch up with them."

When your competition says the gap is huge and they are aggressively trying to catch up to you then you know you are doing things right. As if being first place in the standings and winning the first three races of the year was not proof enough. Mercedes is way out in front in the standings but obviously this is very early.

At the Bahrain GP Lewis Hamilton took the victory followed by Nico Rosberg. Rosberg is 11 points ahead of Hamilton for first place in the standings. It will be interesting to see how the team treats the two as they both compete for the championship. Hopefully they are both able to battle with each other as well (as they did in this race) so that a championship does not come down to politics.

Regarding the quality of the racing itself the Grand Prix was exciting. Rosberg and Hamilton started from the front of the grid and both went back and forth from the beginning. They both were essentially told to cool it off towards the end but seeing them go head to head bodes well for the competitive aspect from the team. Rosberg stated it was the best battle of his career and Hamilton said it was the hardest race he had ever won.

What about everyone else? Clearly Mercedes is on another level right now with everyone else chasing them. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso managed a respectable fourth place finish. Red Bull Racing finished in 6th and 10th with Sebastian Vettel ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo. McLaren picked up 5th and 7th place finishes. The full standings are below.

Things are looking great for Mercedes heading into the fourth race of the year in China taking place next weekend. Will Mercedes keep up this pace? Will the other teams catch them? It is going to be interesting to watch and the 2014 season is not disappointing.

Hopefully they are both able to battle with each other as well (as they did in this race) so that a championship does not come down to politics.

As this race and the previous race showed there are no restrictions to battle for position.
Actually none of the teams have shown this, only realism if one driver was faster than the other they were told to let the other pass.
If later in the race pace was regained teammates again battled for position.

Originally Posted by Sticky

They both were essentially told to cool it off towards the end

Nope, they were only asked to bring the car to the finish in one piece. The last 10 laps were an awesome battle.

Originally Posted by Bozo954

On the other hand, I wouldn't sleep on Red Bull or the Ferrari with their psychos, Alonso & Raikkonen in the cockpit. Never know when they'll be on your ass.

Hell, Vettel's kinda nutty himself, quiet as it's kept.

Alonso and Raikkonen are both extremely good racing drivers. Not really sure why you'd want to qualify them as psyco's at all
Especially when there are drivers like Maldonado and Grosjean in the field.

Alonso and Raikkonen are both extremely good racing drivers. Not really sure why you'd want to qualify them as psyco's at all
Especially when there are drivers like Maldonado and Grosjean in the field.

Oh no, David, they are psychos, in fact.........psycho nut cases. You misunderstand, and we are actually more of the same thought than you know. Please read on. My description is a term of endearment, a compliment to their ability and super-competitive natures, their outspoken tongues when communicating with the team, and their overall bad-assness.

You with me?

However, my man, you are exactly right in terms of being EXTREMELY good. In other words, I often think...........who are the top 5 drivers in F1? Okay, largely an opinion, so let's do it.

In my book, Alonso and Kimi - for sure - are both top 3 drivers.............hard to put either in front of Vettel, with 4 consecutive titles. Kimi is my personal favorite, as he can flat out drive. I know, you said that already; still, worth restating.

But can I say Hamilton, whom I like alot, is better than any of those 3? Nope.

Here's my top 5 overall, not just this season............tell me yours.

We're actually not so far apart as you might think.
IMO:
For raw speed, Kimi is the fastest of the bunch
Alonso is probably the better opportunist and thinker behind the wheel. There's not much between them speed wise.
Ferrari has indeed the best driver's line-up of all teams this year.

Hamilton is a very smart racer and has extreme pace when he gets in the zone.
Button is of all drivers the neatest driver and the most consistent skilled driver, but not the most spectacular.
Actually, I was going to put Vettel in this line-up as well, but Riccardo has really really impressed me the last races consistently outpacing Vettel.
So my top5 right now would be:

1. Raikkonen
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton
4. Button
5. Riccardo

For whom would I cheer the most? Probably Button, but Mc Laren is far off the pace.
Mercedes has it's act together, mainly because they've spent most of last year developing the 2014 car.
Everybody else is just catching up.
Ferrari most of all, their engine is a sad piece of work compared to the Mercedes.
Mechanically the Red Bulls and Ferrari's are sound, but they miss engine finesse and power right now.

The best thing that has come out of these rule changes is that, if the cars hold together, everyone can finish in the same lap, where last year the Marushia's and Caterhams were 2 or 3 laps down.
And cars have less downforce, so they can drive behind each other without losing too much grip.

Basically, yes.
As long as they didn't damage their cars they were allowed to race. Both drivers were given the exact same order.
These are the best drivers in the world and by giving them the trust to race each other Mercedes boss Toto Wolff gave the world a very exiting piece of automotive history.
An epic battle.Mercedes wants both drivers to race eachother. And they did.

Toto Wolff:

“You need to have the drivers understand where the team came from and not risk the image of such a brand - and they did it in a fantastic and spectacular way,” Wolff noted, “Okay, at turn three at the start of the race, I had doubts - I was like 'no, please, not for one-and-a-half hours now....' and then, at the end, at the restart, we discussed whether we could trust the drivers and they proved that [we could].

“[We will continue like this] until we lose some front wings and then we will sit down again and discuss if this was the [right] strategy…. No, they are racing drivers, so it is all academic...”

Which also showed the enormous dominance of Mercedes performance a the moment.
While battling each other in the last 10 rounds after the safety car both Mercedes cars were an awesome 3 seconds per lap quicker than everybody else.

Basically, yes.
As long as they didn't damage their cars they were allowed to race. Both drivers were given the exact same order.
These are the best drivers in the world and by giving them the trust to race each other Mercedes boss Toto Wolff gave the world a very exiting piece of automotive history.
An epic battle.

Yes they raced each other what I'm saying is they were told not to take it too far. They didn't.

Go watch the race and tell me what you think.
This race is worth watching even though you know the outcome.
Its just one of a few races that are just that awesome because of the battles.
Hamilton and Rosberg were NOT just bringing their cars to the finish, I can tell you that.

We're actually not so far apart as you might think.
IMO:
For raw speed, Kimi is the fastest of the bunch
Alonso is probably the better opportunist and thinker behind the wheel. There's not much between them speed wise.
Ferrari has indeed the best driver's line-up of all teams this year.

Hamilton is a very smart racer and has extreme pace when he gets in the zone.
Button is of all drivers the neatest driver and the most consistent skilled driver, but not the most spectacular.
Actually, I was going to put Vettel in this line-up as well, but Riccardo has really really impressed me the last races consistently outpacing Vettel.
So my top5 right now would be:

1. Raikkonen
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton
4. Button
5. Riccardo

For whom would I cheer the most? Probably Button, but Mc Laren is far off the pace.
Mercedes has it's act together, mainly because they've spent most of last year developing the 2014 car.
Everybody else is just catching up.
Ferrari most of all, their engine is a sad piece of work compared to the Mercedes.
Mechanically the Red Bulls and Ferrari's are sound, but they miss engine finesse and power right now.

The best thing that has come out of these rule changes is that, if the cars hold together, everyone can finish in the same lap, where last year the Marushia's and Caterhams were 2 or 3 laps down.
And cars have less downforce, so they can drive behind each other without losing too much grip.

Thanks for the reply, David; enjoyed the read very much. But first off, once we're all done with this dicussion - "all" meaning a few othesr may jump into the top 5 ratings, let's finish off our top 10.

If you want, you can go first, especially since I need to think about mine for a moment. Or not; we'll figure something out.

It's funny you mention Riccardo in your top 5, because he is (probably) my #6 . Of course, we differ on Vettel, but that is the fun of it. That aside, I'm diggin your top 5.

I only give Vettel that top ranking with due respect for his 4-year defending champion run, but cannot develop and argue a position against Alonso as #1 . That dude put the capital e in Elite driver.

Translation?: As far as I'm concerned, he's the person to pattern onself after if wanting to be a top F1 driver.

Otherwise, I concur with the comments after your list.

Seems that, for all the growing pains with the new powertrain, the series is noticeably more competititive, with others catching up as you mentioned. That said, when Ferrari and Red Bull get it together -and I think they will - it should get even more exciting.

Starting to remind me of the DTM, where it is a toss-up from year-to-year. I'm a Mercedes guy, but Audi & BMW are certainly strong...........hell, MB hasn't won in several years. And I still haven't gotten over Bruno Spengler leaving for BMW. I should grow up, ay?? I know; sad, but true in this case.

P.S.
Actually, David, I concur with everything you said...............that is, what you said before your list, too. ( I'm losing it. The topic got me so excited - not like that - I forgot to make it clear.)